Umbrella
by Raven's secret-keeper
Summary: Dove has been miserable and lost in streets of an unfamiliar, and unforgiving, Jump City for too long now. But it's amazing how a simple show of kindness can change one's view of the world. OC-centric, Dove, and occurs before her official fanfic debut.


_Author's Note: I was challenged on Tumblr to write a "Drabble" based on a single word - the word I was given, "Umbrella". This story is hot-off-the-press and was composed in about 90 minutes, far less time than I usually apply to my stories, even oneshots! But I'm happy with the result, and hopefully, you will be, too._

* * *

Damp white silk shone brilliantly even in the alley's shadows, the feet these shoes covered dragging ahead one step at a time, a vivid contrast against the dull and slippery gray of the city concrete and their owner's desolate pace foreign to the bustling and chaotic world of Jump City.

These white-shod shoes belonged to a fourteen-year-old known only as Dove, once a child content with life and now feeling only lost and alone; once the secret and beloved daughter of Alerina, a child of Azarath, and now - though she didn't know it - an orphan, to both her parents and her home.

Usually the rain would make her smile. But it seemed she didn't have any smiles left in her, not for the past two months… and this rain was dark and dismal, a sooty downpour turning the city a miserable color that perfectly reflected the mood Dove carried in her heart. But she couldn't stop now - no, not when she had crossed dimensions and defied death itself, not after everything she'd lived through, everything she'd promised…

Still, she shivered. Even with the warmth of the little white bird she clutched close against her chest, she shivered…

Her skirt slapped her legs with every heavy step she took - her entire dress had become only silken clothes plastered to her skin and even the thicker cloak was defenseless against nature's watery onslaught. So cold, habit forced her to pull her cloak closer around herself but she only whimpered miserably at how much colder the thin, wet silk made her feel. How much more helpless…

And she gasped sharply as she heard the sound still so new to her, but it ellicited a feeling that was all too familiar - the sound was thunder; the feeling, fear.

All she knew was that it was terrifying, it sounded so angry, so _violent,_ and what was she, a helpless pacifist who couldn't sleep for a week whenever someone watched her too closely? She was weak, she was helpless, and she was aware of it.

But now all she knew was she's TERRIFIED!

Lightning lit the world with its electric fire, and Dove bolted before the thunder came - It sounded, and she didn't know where she was running but she couldn't control her legs, couldn't control her desperate drive to escape the sound exploding all around her, echoing in the alley and surrounding her, chasing her, wearing her down….

But there was no escaping the sky's fury, especially not when the alley closed it in.

And there was no endurance, especially when she had forced herself on and on for so long that her energy reserves were drained -

_NO!_

Hot static seared through her entire body as she felt her fears finally take form, escaping her soul - crackling, wild, electricity gone mad erupted around her as she stumbled around a corner, now hiding from herself and her own powers and trying to hide it all from the world that could never accept her, not when she was this DANGEROUS - !

She choked on a breathless sob as the lightless, faded, white shadows, all too powerful - they kept coming but they only intensified and lashed out at the world when lightning lashed the skies and thunder charged in on its heels.

"No - no - _Stop_ it - _Azar protect me!"_

Her cry was only desperate panting intermingled with frantic prayers and the sound of sobbing mincing what her tongue managed to piece together.

Her lightless shadows only burned her deeper and deeper as she fought, hard, to keep them back - but it was no use. Her powers were free, and she was too panicked to reign them back.

She could feel the minds of people even halfway across the city.

She could hear the people's breaths from four blocks away.

She was never _alone!_

And it was all too much to handle.

Finally the world reminded her that somehow, mercy _does_ exist, and she found an end to her frantic path - she collapsed against that dead-end wall as the chaos in her mind showed this world why she had to hide her face - why her mother shouldn't have been torn from her so soon.

She wasn't ready, it wasn't _fair!_

All she could do was huddle in a corner, sobbing whole-heartedly, resigning herself to hopelessness and fear and the sadness so deep it threatened to tear her heart apart as she remembered her mother, her home, the feelings of safety everything promised, and knowing she would never see that again.

It was impossible to know how much time had passed - even if she had been watching, a stranger to this dimension would need years to adjust to time's more insistent presence here. But slowly, eventually she was too exhausted to release any more energy, her every strength depleted, and the emotions dulled down to a whimpering fire… but not even absolute exhaustion could stop the pain, or keep the tears from dropping down her cheeks, mingling with the rainwater and not even their salty heat warming her face from the cold world's cruelty.

…she heard footsteps, and sobbed helplessly. No, no, not when she was so helpless, her emotions wild, her powers so uncontrolled - !

…but even her numbed and frozen mind could feel the warmth brimming in the newer presence's mind.

Dove's eyes were too swollen and flooded with tears, so she couldn't see the new face… but she knew, somehow, there would be… _kindness_ in those eyes.

How long would that last…?

"Nobody deserves to be stuck out here alone, not in this weather, and especially not without an umbrella."

Dove nearly flinched away as the hand reached out towards her - but she recognized the gesture for what it was, an offer - with a strange object she'd never seen wavering in her view. She took the long, cold handle, her chilled fingers struggling to grasp it and the stranger smiling (she couldn't have looked up at the face if her eyes were clear, she was too nervous, but her senses, weak though they were, promised her this person was gentle).

And… as she steadied the object in her grip, she realized - the blossoming dome of fabric up there was keeping off the rain.

"Keep yourself dry, hon, and good luck."

And with that, he walked away.

Dove was very confused, but too nervous and bemused to ask a coherent question as he turned and left…

And the gravity of what happened slowly soaked into her, much warmer than the rain soaking her before. That was… the last thing she would have expected anyone to do for her… Kindness… _helping_ her? The show of compassion touched her so strongly she felt a new wave of tears gathering in her eyes.

- But, wait - if he gave her his - wouldn't _he_ be soaked now?

She leapt up and tried to run after him, calling out "Wait!" with her voice cracking but strong enough, echoing off the alley walls as she ran to the cross-streets and stood, skidded to a halt, looked down the sidewalks, searching, watching…

…but…

He was gone…

She panted quietly for a moment, wishing she'd thought it just a bit sooner. Another moment passed, and she kept looking… gazing at nothing… but he was already too far ahead. And she had a feeling he would have refused to let her return it, anyways…

And so she turned halfway, and nodded over her shoulder, to wherever he might be… "Thank you," she muttered sincerely, not knowing if he'd ever hear her but meaning it with every ounce of her soul.

Maybe this world wasn't so cruel after all.


End file.
